Page 161 - Speedhorse, February 2019

Enter PJ Chick In Black (Desirio-Eddie Jym, Corona Cocktail), the 2010 filly who became Susan’s first stakes winner as an owner, and the horse that would change her life’s direction.
Susan, her parents and Denny routinely partner on horses, and PJ Chick In Black is no exception. “We all brainstorm it when it comes to choosing sires,” she says.
The group partnered with Carl and Fredda Draper on the Draper-bred “PJ,” who was bound for the Ruidoso sale, but cut her leg. They ended up keeping her, and she went on to win the New Mexico Spring Futurity-G2 and the Ruidoso Futurity-G1, then clocked the fastest time in the All American Futurity trials, placing sixth in the finals and being named AQHA Champion 2-Year-Old Filly. She ended 2012 ranked 14th by wins and seventh by earnings.
Her sophomore year, PJ won her West Texas Derby trial and the G3 finals, won her Ruidoso Derby trial and qualified for the Rainbow, All American and Los Alamitos Super derbies. She then ran fifth in the Town Policy Stakes at Los Alamitos and sixth in the Jess Burner Memorial Handicap-G1 at Sunland Park. She ended
the year with a career record of 14-8-0-0 and $652,081 in earnings.
The multiple graded stakes winning mare retired from racing after a trailer wreck as a
3 year old that fortunately left her physically unscathed, but affected her ability to race.
AN AWESOME BROODMARE
PJ Chick In Black moved handily into her new role as a broodmare, producing four foals in 2015, including Hes Limitless. The Corona Cartel colt became the Bowen/Smith/Taylor partnership’s first stakes-placed foal as breeders, running second in his trial for the Remington
Park Oklahoma-Bred Futurity and third in his trial for the Rainbow, then running second in the Rainbow Juvenile Stakes. He ran first in his trial for the All American Futurity-G1, crossing the wire fourth in finals, and ended 2017 ranked 40th by earnings.
In 2018, Hes Limitless bumped up six notches in the earnings rankings, with career earnings totaling $480,927 and stats of 14- 3-6(2)-2(1). He ran second in his trial for
the Ruidoso Derby and won his trial for the Rainbow, then ran second in the Grade 1 finals. He also ran second in his All American Derby trial, finishing sixth in the finals, and won his Texas Classic Derby trial, with a third-place final finish. Susan’s father bought out her and Denny’s shares in the colt and has had some pretty good luck with him, Susan says.
Also, in 2015, PJ produced AJ Chick In 15. Now owned by Milena Kwiecien of Canada, the filly by Apollitical Jess has racked up $47,653
in earnings with a 15-3-6(1)-3(1). Her starts include a second-place finish in the Alex Picov Memorial Futurity and a third in the Picov Derby, both at Ajax Downs.
Senorita Sweetness, by One Famous Eagle, followed in 2016. In her freshman year, she earned $16,684, running fifth in her All American Futurity trial, second in both her Rainbow and Ruidoso Futurity trials, and eighth in the Remington Park Oklahoma-Bred Futurity trials.
This year, PJ Chick In Black is expecting four new foals, and Hes Limitless and Senorita Sweetness will return to the track.
“My dad always wanted racehorses,” Susan says, proud to be a part of his success. “His first one was PJ, and his second was Hes Limitless, both of whom qualified for the All American!”
“If she’s on the back of a horse, she’s a happy gal.” - John Stinebaugh
HER CURRENT CHAPTER
Since moving to Purcell, Oklahoma, three years ago, Susan has devoted most of her time
to caring for her mares and foals while Denny travels to shoe at various tracks. “Right now,
I’m a stay-at-home mom to these four-legged animals,” she says. “I love raising those little ones and seeing what they come up like, and then I really enjoy racing them to see if they can run.”
“She’s really competitive when it comes to racing — super competitive,” John adds. “She wants to win.”
Along with caring for her mares and foals, Susan takes on some layovers and does some sale prepping for John. “When horses are up there with her, I just don’t worry,” John says.
Although she sees her role as being on the farm, her friendship with John did lead to her agree to work as his assistant part time during the Remington Park meet, about a 40-minute drive from Purcell.
“I said, ‘Come on Susie, I’ll hire you a guy to go work at your house and you come work for me at Remington Park’,” he says. “But she says, ‘No, no, no.’ So, then I tell her, ‘Ok, if you’ll help me three days a week there, I can be there three days and down here [in San Antonio] three days, with one day of traveling.’ She says, ‘Ok, I’ll do it as long as one of my days is on the dark day,’” he says, laughing, “— because on the dark day, you don’t train! So that cuts her down to two days! She’s a bum! She’s horrible!”
But his fondness for her as a person and his appreciation for her abilities shows through. “The thing about Susie is that everyone likes her,” he says. “People tend to go out of their way to help her because she would do the same for them.” She’s just a “git ‘er done” kind of gal.
PJ Chick In Black is the dam of 2017 All American Futurity-G1 & 2018 All American Derby-G1
finalist Hes Limitless.
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